On May 13, the House Judiciary Committee passed a modified version of the Performance Rights Act (HR 4789). The act is sponsored Reps. Howard Berman (D-California), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D – Texas) and John Conyers (D-Mich) among others and would require radio stations to pay royalties to performers. Currently, radio stations only pay songwriters and producers (or whoever owns the publishing rights) to broadcast music. The National Association of Broadcasters, naturally, opposes this bill, citing radio’s role in the promotion of music. According to the bill, small to mid-sized radio stations would pay a flat fee ($500 – $5000) annually to broadcast music.  Larger companies would have to negotiate a 50/50 royalty split between record labels and artists. Read more about it here.

I’m still considering the possible ramifications of this. Broadcast radio is already struggling financially and this could be the nail in the coffin. However, given recent radio playlist practices and the long history of payola, it’s hard for me to have sympathy for larger stations. Here’s a brief news segment regarding Houston radio’s opposition of the bill:

Passage of this bill could greatly affect broadcast radio and subsequently the recording industry. I’m going to continue to follow this and hope you do as well.

Peace.